4.6 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



other backward, could not be buttoned actually to the edge of the 

 coat, but had to be fastened a little inland as it were ; and thus part 

 of the coat was visible at the bottom of the tail: the light-colored 

 border, although sewn to the coat, evidently now represents the lining, 

 which was shown by the corners being turned back. 



It was not until the reign of George III. that coats were cut back 

 at the waist, as are our present evening-coats ; but since, before that 

 fashion was introduced, the coats had become swallow-tailed in the 

 manner explained, it seems likely that this form of coat was suggested 

 by the previous fashion. And, indeed, stages of development of a 

 somewhat intermediate character may be observed in old engravings. 

 In the uniforms of the last century the coats were double-breasted, but 

 were generally worn open, with the flaps thrown back and buttoned 

 to rows of buttons on the coat. These flaps, of course, showed the 

 lining of the coat, and were of the same color as the tails ; the but- 

 ton-holes were usually embroidered, and thus the whole of the front 

 of the coat became richly laced. Toward the end of the century the 

 coats were made tight, and were fastened together in front by hooks, 

 but the vestiges of the flaps remained in a double line of buttons, and 

 in the front of the coat being of a different color from that of the rest, 

 and being richly laced. A uniform of this nature is still retained in 

 some foreign armies. This seems also to explain the use of the term 

 " facings " as applied to the collar and cuffs of a uniform, since, as we 

 shall see hereafter, they would be of the same color as these flaps. 

 It may also explain the habit of braiding the front of a coat, as is 

 done in our hussar and other regiments. 



In a " History of Male Fashions," published in the London Chronicle 

 in 1762, we find that "surtouts have now four laps on each side, which 

 are called ' dog's ears ; ' when these pieces are unbuttoned, they flap 

 backward and forward, like so many supernumerary patches just 

 tacked on at one end, and the wearer seems to have been playing at 

 backswords till his coat was cut to pieces. . . . Very spruce smarts 

 have no buttons nor holes upon the breast of these their surtouts, 

 save what are upon the ears, and their garments only wrap over their 

 bodies like a morning-gown." These dog's ears may now be seen in a 

 very meaningless state on the breasts of the patrol-jackets of our 

 officers, and this is confirmed by the fact that their jackets are not 

 buttoned, but fastened by hooks. 



In early times, when coats were of silk or velvet, and enormously 

 expensive, it was no doubt customary to turn up the cuffs, so as not to 

 soil the coat, and thus the custom of having the cuffs turned back 

 came in. During the latter part of the seventeenth and during the 

 eighteenth century, the cuffs were very widely turned back, and the 

 sleeves consequently very short, and this led to dandies wearing large 

 lace cuffs to their shirts. 



The pictures of Hogarth and of others show that the coat-cuffs 



